City taxpayers shelled out $736.6 million — the most paid in over a decade — on legal claims, lawsuit settlements and court awards last fiscal year, records show.

But City Comptroller and failed mayoral candidate John Liu left the astronomical sum out of his annual report on the payouts in June.

The enormous taxpayer tab includes a record-high $37.6 million Liu spent settling claims against the city submitted to his office, figures obtained by The Post show.

But the total sky-high legal bill is not mentioned in the bulky, 89-page report. And in a letter that precedes it, Liu deceptively warned taxpayers that the cost of claims against the city “still hovers at a half a billion annually.”

That figure referred only to the $485.9 million the city coughed up for personal-injury and property-damage settlements and awards.

It is mentioned later in the executive summary that the city forked over an additional $250.7 million paying settlements and awards on law and contract disputes.

Liu’s predecessor, Bill Thompson, and former Comptroller Alan Hevesi ­reported the total expense of tort and non-tort settlements and awards to taxpayers.

While the city Law Department is accountable for the settlements and awards the Comptroller’s Office tracks and pays out, Liu’s office is the first stop for a potential litigant against the city, and he has the ability to offer a prelitigation settlement.

His Bureau of Law and Adjustment (BLA) reviews thousands of claims against the city, which range from serious personal-injury cases to smaller ones over bumps and bruises.

But Liu’s spokesman, Jack Ryan, denied a request for pre-litigation settlement figures made by his office. The Post filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the data, but was told the data wouldn’t be ready until next month.

On average, Liu’s office doled out $8,851 per settlement for personal injury, property damage and law claims filed last year, compared to a decade ago, when the average payout was $6,782, figures obtained by The Post show.

Liu’s BLA offers settlements on claims that it considers “meritorious” to avoid possible litigation against the city.